+RIP Dr. Peter J. Stanlis

+RIP Dr. Peter J. Stanlis

I have only now just learned of the passing of one of my old teachers, Dr. Peter J. Stanlis, erstwhile Professor of English at Rockford College. I had a few classes with him during my time there.

Dr. Stanlis was a student and friend of poet Robert Frost. Once Dr. Stanlis told how he had been discussing the subject of puns and poetry with Frost, and pointed out a pun in Frost's poem "Mending Wall". Frost responded that there was no pun in "Mending Wall." Dr. Stanlis quoted the relevant lines:

What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.

At that, Frost said, "I'll take it," and offered it as an example of how creativity goes on at the subconscious level.

Dr. Stanlis was associated with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and The Rockford Institute. His friends and colleagues included Russell Kirk and Paul Gottfried.

Dr. Stanlis led a long and accomplished life. Requiescat in pace, et omnes dicent, amen.

"They see well that all who speak are nothing, for they shall fadeaway with the sound of their words, but the Lord endures forever.". . . Thomas a Kempis, THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, Book 4, Chapter 14, No. 4